


Into Fire with You

by missmichellebelle



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Magic, Elemental Magic, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-19
Updated: 2013-09-19
Packaged: 2017-12-27 00:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/972024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmichellebelle/pseuds/missmichellebelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even before he'd been tested, he knew that Water would be his calling. He just has no idea what his calling is <i>beyond</i> that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into Fire with You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Invisible Thread Project](http://invisiblethreadproject.tumblr.com/) over on tumblr.
> 
> When this project came out I wanted to do something that was clearly AU, that couldn't just happen in our world, and... This is what came of that idea. It's kind of complicated and I crafted a whole world and didn't give myself room to explain all of it. Just know that it takes place at a university where students range from 20-26.
> 
> Basically, this whole thing feels like a hot mess. x___x I'm sorry.

They call it a showcase. They say it's an opportunity for the other students to see all the different paths they themselves can take, a chance to understand what they can become once they pick their specialization.

It's only Chris's second year at Ementium, but he can already see the whole thing for what it _really_ is—a bragging contest. It's a bunch of upperclassmen showing off these complicated, intricate movements and castings and techniques that certainly make everyone _ooh_ and _aah_ , but they don't _demonstrate_ anything. Last year, Chris had been so excited about the event, but that feeling had quickly turned into an overwhelming mixture of insecurity and panic.

As much as Chris despises their smug smirks, he's also fully aware that he'll _never_ be like that. He'll never be that good. He'll never be that confident. It makes him question, not for the first time, whether or not he really deserves to be at the university at all.

But it's not optional—at least, not for him. Unlike most of his peers, Chris hasn't picked his path yet. Going to the showcase is unlikely to help him at all, but he'd still been rather firmly _suggested_ to go to it by the head of his school. She's not exactly the sort of person that Chris ever wants to cross, so he knows he has to go. He can only hope this year will be different.

After all, it's not like Chris is an indecisive person. He'd even go as far as to say he's generally pretty good at making decisions. It's just that there are seven different options for him right now—seven different paths, seven different fields, seven different people he could turn out to be.

None of them feel _right_.

For longer than he'll ever admit, Chris has wondered if maybe he'd been tested into the wrong school. It's _extremely_ rare for that to happen, but it _does_ happen. It's not uncommon for most potential guardians to be proficient in multiple elements, although, even then, they still generally show an inclination toward one in particular.

Chris had. _More_ than an inclination, the head of his school had told him with big, excited eyes. She, and the rest of the leads of his school, expected great things from him, no matter what path he ended up choosing.

He wonders if they still feel that way.

No, Chris knows he's in the right school. Even before he'd been tested, he knew that Water would be his calling. He just has no idea what his calling is _beyond_ that.

*

The showcase lasts an entire day, and most of the university ends up attending simply because all classes are canceled. Chris thinks he'd rather spend the free day doing something else.

The whole ordeal covers a large, open expanse of field that the Earth school tends to use. Split into sections for each individual school, seven stages are erected for each specialization and older students take turns performing and providing entertainment. Again, Chris thinks of being a few years older—a fifth year, a sixth year—and being up there. He wonders if his family would come and see him; he knows it's not uncommon.

The Water school decorates their area in predictable shades of blue, white, purple, and silver. The stages—made of a beautiful, shining marble—are circular and arranged in a ring around a large, temporary pond like a childish recreation of a flower.

The first stage Chris happens upon is the one for the Healing path, and he watches with a drawn face as a guardian slices a long gash up her arm and then proceeds to coil and freeze water around it until the skin is smooth again. Out of all seven paths, Healing is the least showy, which is one of the reasons Chris likes it. It's very practical, and while some students do add style or flare to their castings, it all stays relatively the same.

Within the Water school, Healing is the only path that combines both water and ice, otherwise the school is split. Ice in knowledge, defense, or society, and water in knowledge, defense, or society. Chris… Doesn't really understand the difference, but he knows the different branches are very competitive with each other within the school. He knows already, rather solidly, that he doesn't plan to go into defense—he doesn't want to be a soldier, that much has always been clear to Chris.

"Woah," says someone (a guy?) standing right behind him as the girl on the stage holds her hand against a flame. "I can't imagine doing that."

It's curiosity, more than anything else, that makes Chris turn and look—past the dark, artfully tossed curly hair, and the honey colored skin, the first things his eyes lock onto is the deep red sash knotted around his hips. The same kind of sash as the soft blue ones looped around both of Chris's wrists.

The comment is immediately funny to him.

"Burning yourself? _Really?_ " Because he's from the Fire school, and wouldn't accidental burning happen there all the time?

The guy turns his head, a look on his face that makes it clear he hadn't really meant to talk to anyone, much less for anyone to respond. Chris feels the hot shock of humiliation, and he should just turn back to the demonstration, or move on. After all, this guy is from the Fire school, and that alone is enough to make Chris feel uncomfortable. Every school has its opposite, after all, and it's not as if there's some sort of intense rivalry between them. But it's a polarity as old as time itself, and it's difficult to fight that bias.

"If it started to rain suddenly, would you fear getting wet?" He asks Chris, and Chris's eyebrows furrow at the question.

"Of course not, I—"

"You can control the water. I know." The guy's eyes flick purposefully to Chris's sashes. "And I can control fire. Getting burned isn't really something I have to worry about… Anymore." He winces, as if remembering past injuries, and Chris can remember first getting used to his control—having buckets of water dumped on him as practice and soaking him through until he was shivering and wet.

Chris averts his eyes, properly informed and a little embarrassed, and thinks he'll maybe move onto the ice track first. There's something gorgeous about it, although Chris knows not to let the beauty of a particular path draw him that way—defense castings tend to be breathtaking.

"I can't imagine burning myself on purpose, especially for a demonstration." The guy continues talking, and Chris finds himself surprised. It's not as if communication between schools is forbidden, it just… Doesn't happen often, to his knowledge. Learning to work with guardians of other elements comes eventually, depending on the path you choose, but while still at the university?

"It's only for a few seconds." Chris shrugs. "The healing process isn't exactly quick, but the pain is dulled to almost nonexistence rather quickly."

The guys eyes brighten and then quickly sweep over Chris.

"Are you a Healer?" He asks, voice laced with excitement, and Chris vaguely recalls that the path structures are different within each school. Water is known for its Healers—none of the other schools have that path as an option.

"I—no, I'm not." Chris suddenly feels uncomfortable. He doesn't like this conversation. This conversation only has one direction it can go in.

The guy blinks at him for too many moments, like he's trying to figure something out, and then his face splits into a smile as he holds out his hand.

"I'm Darren."

Chris stares at his hand, and wonders if there's a way he can decline touching it without being too rude. But he reminds himself that just because this guy, Darren, is a part of the Fire school, it doesn't make him made of fire anymore than Chris is made of water (more so than any other human is).

He hesitantly grasps Darren's hand. Completely human, if a little warmer than Chris's own.

"Chris."

Darren looks amused for a moment, and then releases Chris's hand. Chris isn't sure what comes next—he doesn't know very many people within his own school. He wouldn't say he's completely friendless, but he does have a tendency to keep to himself. It's just how he is. If he can't hold up a decent conversation with someone who shares something as base as an element, how is he supposed to function in this sort of situation?

"Have you ever been to the Fire showcase?" Darren asks, looking back at the stage now. Chris continues to look at him.

"I—no, I haven't." Maybe he would go to the others in future years. Maybe. But there's no reason for him to go now, when he doesn't have his own path picked out.

"In about an hour, I'm performing." Darren grins easily at Chris. "You should come by."

*

Chris isn't sure what makes him go. Maybe the frustration that this showcase is doing nothing for his decision, or maybe it was the look in Darren's eyes when he asked. Chris would love to say he's immune to the charms of a smile from a beautiful boy, but… He's not.

Darren is a part of the society sect of fire, and Chris can deduce enough of what that means. Taking the society path of one's school leads to a life of civil duty—of helping on a domestic level. Each path is deserving of the term guardian that they all will eventually have attached to their names permanently. They're important. They're respected. It's something that Chris has to not think about, because the responsibility of it feels suffocating at times.

He feels out of place among all the bright shades of red and copper, and he receives a few stares. It's enough attention that he almost turns tail and leaves, except that he sees Darren, thrown in the dancing light and shadow of a huge blaze beside him.

It's amazing, watching him calm it down until there's nothing but quieting cinders left, and when Darren takes his bow, his eyes find Chris and he smiles.

*

Darren is a fifth year. His mom used to be an Earth Guardian Scholar, Darren tells him with a flare of his hand and a flash of a beautiful green ring on his finger, and his dad is completely human but works with Guardian Scholars of all elements. Chris's own parentage isn't as interesting, and he's the first in his family to show guardian capabilities. It's both a relief and additional pressure—he has no one to live up to, but instead has to _create_ that bar.

For some reason, he ends up saying as much to Darren. In fact, as they slowly become friends, Chris ends up telling Darren a lot.

It's a strange friendship. They don't take any of the same lessons, or live in the same area. Every lunch, every coffee, is planned ahead of time, and at first the way people watch them like a ticking time-bomb makes Chris incredibly uncomfortable. They're a spectacle, dressed in their opposite uniforms and laughing together.

Eventually, he stops caring as much.

It doesn't take long for Darren to find out that Chris hasn't picked his path yet. He isn't patronizing about it, and he doesn't immediately try to help. He says, "You'll figure it out," sips his coffee, and amends, " _We'll_ figure it out."

It's not long after that that Chris finally works up the nerve to ask Darren one of the many questions he has.

"How did you know what path to choose?" They're on his school's campus—Darren had noticed very quickly that the Fire campus made Chris uncomfortable. Instead of pushing, they agreed to meet on neutral grounds, or for Darren to come here. When Chris told him that neutral was fine, Darren insisted that he liked the Water campus—it felt welcoming, and calming.

Darren's quiet, staring out at the large pool of water they're sitting next to. Every time Chris twitches his fingers the right way, he fountains the water into arcs and bursts that make Darren smile.

"I've always liked school, but I knew I didn't enjoy it enough to be a scholar," Darren starts, and he's still looking out at the water even as Chris's attention turns to him. "I always thought defense was cool, respectable, but… I'm not a fighter. They call it defense, but I could be asked to fight one day, and…" Darren just shakes his head.

"I thought about performance." Like his own school has Healing, the Fire school has performance. Chris always thought it was odd, next to all of the other paths. Him and Darren have talked about it. "But… I knew I wanted to help people. Everyday people. People that I walk past in the streets. I want to help keep them safe, I guess. It just… Made sense to me."

Chris wishes he felt that way about something. He wishes he knew. It's not like he _wants_ to do everything, he can just see himself doing everything. When he looks at his future as a guardian, he doesn't see one certain path where he'll be more successful, that will make his life more fulfilling, that will make him _happy_. And Chris knows, when Darren talks about his own path, his own future, that those are the things he feels.

Darren's path is perfect for him. Chris just wishes he were lucky enough to know himself as well as Darren does.

It's one of those moments, as Chris stares at Darren, where Chris doesn't understand. Another question he's always been afraid to ask, because he isn't sure if he wants to know the answer.

"Why are we friends?"

Darren whips to look at him, eyes wide, and Chris has a moments indecision where he wants to retract it, pull it back. But no amount of scrambling will undo what he just said, and Darren won't pretend that Chris never said it. So Chris blinks rapidly, fingers tightening in the grass, but he stares at Darren steadily.

"Did you not want to be?" Darren asks, a teasing lilt to his voice, but they've known each other long enough by now, have spent enough time together, that Chris can hear the nuances, can hear the waver that other people would miss. Like Darren actually thinks that Chris wouldn't want to be friends with him.

"That's not what I meant." Chris furrows his eyebrows together.

"Then what did you mean?" Darren prods, his voice going gentle, and Chris's eyes flick to the water and back.

"It's not _normal_ , Darren. It—we don't see people from separate schools interacting like this. Being friends. It's not like it's against the rules, and I know we've talked about it, that we-we don't care that people stare at us anymore." Only a little bit of a lie—a part of Chris will always care. "But I was just a stranger in a crowd, you didn't—I don't understand why you—" Chris growls in frustration that his words are failing him.

"Because you were alone," Darren says, simply. Chris feels a hot flare of shame and the need to stand up and walk away. But it's like Darren senses it, and his fingers grab hold of the sash where one of its ends dangles from the knot on Chris's wrist. "Honestly, you seemed… Lost. When I invited you to come see me, I never actually thought you'd come. I… Wanted to know why you did."

Darren looks at Chris like he expects an answer.

"I… I don't know," Chris responds, voice quiet, and it's the absolute truth. He doesn't know what ultimately made him venture into the Fire school's showcase when Chris should have been at his own, why he didn't just go make to his quarters and forget the encounter because he has no doubt that he would have. If he hadn't gone to see Darren that day, Darren never would have seen him in the crowd, never would have come to say hello to him afterwards, never would have suggested they go and eat a dinner that would ultimately last hours and be filled with conversation.

"I wanted to help, and… Maybe I was looking for help, too. I don't know." Darren's hand travels up Chris's sash until he's pulling at the fabric, the backs of his fingers brushing the skin of Chris's wrist underneath the fabric and his ring winking and catching the sunlight.

"You wanted to help?"

"You seemed lost, remember? I thought maybe I could help give you direction." Darren laughs, like the notion is ridiculous. "I hardly have any myself, I probably shouldn't spare it."

"No." Chris's hand twists until it's wrapped around Darren's fingers in an awkward hand-hold. "You… You definitely have it, Darren. I… I'm jealous, actually. You know where you're going, and I have no clue. So I think you're right. I am lost." It's not news to Chris. Did he expect to know by now what he'd be doing? Absolutely. Time is running out, and soon he'll have to make a choice out of desperation rather than what he _wants_.

"I said you _seemed_ lost, not that you were, Chris." Darren folds their hands together more naturally, and Chris's heart skips. "I never said I was _right_. I think you know where you're going, you just got a little turned around. But you're smart. You'll figure it out." Darren squeezes his hand and Chris feels the small flutter of a smile that comes when someone honestly believes in you—and Darren has since that very first night. "I know you will."

*

When Chris chooses Healing, Darren gives him this smile like he knew all along. It would be incredibly annoying if Chris wasn't so overjoyed at finally having a path, and a future, and feeling so excited about the prospect of it.

"Don't give me that smug little smile like you knew," Chris says with a shove, and is surprised when Darren pulls him into a tight hug.

He whispers, "Of course I knew. I've known since the moment we met." And Chris should feel anger, or annoyance, or something from the months that Darren has watched him struggle with this and hasn't said anything. But then Darren's eyes are right there, soft and supportive the way they've always been. "You just needed to finally see it for yourself."

Chris stares for a long moment, long enough that Darren starts to look less like he did the right thing and more like he just fucked himself over. That's when Chris uses the leverage he already has with his arms around Darren's neck and kisses him square on the mouth.

"Is that what you meant?" Chris asks, feeling giddy and breathless and unsure where all of this confidence has suddenly come from. But for some reason he feels like he could take on the world and win.

"Sure, let's go with that." And Darren kisses him again.


End file.
